Despite the fame and success of the theater, the financial problems of its majority owner, the Fox Film Corporation, after the stock market crash of 1929 destabilized the Roxy's operations and it often had to show lesser films. In 1932, Rothafel left the theater named in his honor at Rockefeller Center where he opened the new Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy. Most of the performers and artistic staff moved with him to Music Hall, including producer Leon Leonidoff, choreographer Russell Markert, and conductor Erno Rapee.[10] The Roxyettes went on to greater fame at Music Hall, becoming the Rockettes in 1935.[11] (The RKO Roxy soon changed its name to Center Theater after the Roxy's owners sued Rockefeller Center for exclusive rights to the Roxy brand.)

After Rothfael's departure, the Roxy Theater never regained its former glory, but it remained a leading movie and performance venue in New York. In 1942, A. J. Balaban, co-founder of the Balaban & Katz movie theater chain, began nearly a decade as CEO of the Roxy.[12] He came out of retirement to run the theater at the insistence of Spyros Skouras,[13] head of the company that owned the Roxy, National Theaters, as well as 20th Century-Fox. Balaban restored the theater's profitability by providing access to first-run Fox movies, as well as producing and presenting world-class live shows.[14] Among his innovations were the construction of an ice rink on the Roxy stage, which also featured many notable artists of the time, such as the Nicholas Brothers, Carmen Cavallaro, and The Harmonicats. Even classical ballet dancers, such as Leonide Massine, performed. Balaban invited the New York Philharmonic along with soprano Eileen Farrell for two weeks at the Roxy during September 1950. Appearing for the first time as the main attraction in a "cinema palace", the orchestra played a short concert four times a day between screenings of the film The Black Rose.[15]

The Roxy's stage was rebuilt twice, in 1948 and 1952, to add the ice surface for skating shows. During the final renovation, the stage was extended above the orchestra pit and colored neon was installed on the ice.[16] Ice shows were presented, along with the feature film, from time to time throughout the 1950s. In January 1956, famous skater Sonja Henie brought her show to the Roxy for its final performance in New York.[17][18]

The CinemaScope widescreen process was introduced at the Roxy with the 1953 world premiere of the 20th Century-Fox film, The Holy Mantle. The Roxy had also introduced another 70mm widescreen format in 1930 with the release of the musical Happy Days, filmed with the Fox Grandeur system*.* However, due to the Great Depression, the Roxy was one of only two theaters equipped with the Grandeur system. (the other being Grauman's Chinese) and never took off.[19] Another widescreen format, the three-projector Cinemiracle, also debuted at the Roxy on a 110-foot curved screen with the film.

One of the last great combined shows was made in 1959 with the feature film This Earth Is Mine, starring Rock Hudson and Jean Simmons, followed by The Big Circus starring Victor Mature. Gretchen Wyler, the Blackburn Twins, Jerry Collins, and the Roxy Orchestra performed on stage. The manager since 1955 was Robert C. Rothafel, son of "Roxy." By this time the appearance of the cinema had changed considerably from its golden age of the 1920s. Part of the mouth and side walls had been removed to make room for the enormous Cinemiracle screen and much of the rest of the room was covered in heavy curtains. The large orchestra pit was mostly covered by the stage extension and the organ consoles were removed. The elegant entrance hall, however, was largely left intact.[20]​.

The Roxy closed on March 29, 1960. The last film to be shown was The Wind Cannot Read,[21]​ a British film with Dirk Bogarde that opened on March 9.

The Roxy had been acquired by Rockefeller Center in 1956, and was later sold to property developer William Zeckendorf. It had initially been purchased to obtain air rights for the Time-Life Building, built to its east, and was eventually demolished by Zeckendorf for an expansion of the Taft Hotel and an office building that is now connected to the Time-Life Building. Life magazine photographed Gloria Swanson amid the ruins during the demolition.

The Roxy founder's spectacular stage and film programming ideas continued at Radio City Music Hall into the 1970s. Music Hall's lavish Christmas show, created in 1933 by Leon Leonidoff and Russell Markert, who worked at the Roxy as producer and choreographer respectively, continues today as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The Music Hall itself was saved from demolition by a consortium of preservation and business interests in 1979 and remains one of New York's landmarks. Its restored interior includes the luxurious art deco style offices created for "Roxy" Rothafel, preserved in part as a tribute to the visionary showman.

Sources

• - Reprinted [1] Archived October 8, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. at In70mm.com. Retrieved 2014-12-22.

• - Roxy Theater Cinema Treasures.com.

• - Comments and photos of the auditorium in 1927. Pictureshowman.com.

• - Requiem for the Roxy Theater Organ Society, via Internet Archives.

• - Reference list, provided by the New York Public Library.

• - [2].

• - Artistic representation of the interior of the Roxy Theater North American Historical Society. Elmhurst, Illinois.

• - Roxy entry in 1927 Vitaphone Varieties.

• - Manta de la Rotunda, Photo 1, Photo 2.

• - Roxy Lobby. LIFE Magazine from 1943.

Despite the fame and success of the theater, the financial problems of its majority owner, the Fox Film Corporation, after the stock market crash of 1929 destabilized the Roxy's operations and it often had to show lesser films. In 1932, Rothafel left the theater named in his honor at Rockefeller Center where he opened the new Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy. Most of the performers and artistic staff moved with him to Music Hall, including producer Leon Leonidoff, choreographer Russell Markert, and conductor Erno Rapee.[10] The Roxyettes went on to greater fame at Music Hall, becoming the Rockettes in 1935.[11] (The RKO Roxy soon changed its name to Center Theater after the Roxy's owners sued Rockefeller Center for exclusive rights to the Roxy brand.)

After Rothfael's departure, the Roxy Theater never regained its former glory, but it remained a leading movie and performance venue in New York. In 1942, A. J. Balaban, co-founder of the Balaban & Katz movie theater chain, began nearly a decade as CEO of the Roxy.[12] He came out of retirement to run the theater at the insistence of Spyros Skouras,[13] head of the company that owned the Roxy, National Theaters, as well as 20th Century-Fox. Balaban restored the theater's profitability by providing access to first-run Fox movies, as well as producing and presenting world-class live shows.[14] Among his innovations were the construction of an ice rink on the Roxy stage, which also featured many notable artists of the time, such as the Nicholas Brothers, Carmen Cavallaro, and The Harmonicats. Even classical ballet dancers, such as Leonide Massine, performed. Balaban invited the New York Philharmonic along with soprano Eileen Farrell for two weeks at the Roxy during September 1950. Appearing for the first time as the main attraction in a "cinema palace", the orchestra played a short concert four times a day between screenings of the film The Black Rose.[15]

The Roxy's stage was rebuilt twice, in 1948 and 1952, to add the ice surface for skating shows. During the final renovation, the stage was extended above the orchestra pit and colored neon was installed on the ice.[16] Ice shows were presented, along with the feature film, from time to time throughout the 1950s. In January 1956, famous skater Sonja Henie brought her show to the Roxy for its final performance in New York.[17][18]

The CinemaScope widescreen process was introduced at the Roxy with the 1953 world premiere of the 20th Century-Fox film, The Holy Mantle. The Roxy had also introduced another 70mm widescreen format in 1930 with the release of the musical Happy Days, filmed with the Fox Grandeur system*.* However, due to the Great Depression, the Roxy was one of only two theaters equipped with the Grandeur system. (the other being Grauman's Chinese) and never took off.[19] Another widescreen format, the three-projector Cinemiracle, also debuted at the Roxy on a 110-foot curved screen with the film.

One of the last great combined shows was made in 1959 with the feature film This Earth Is Mine, starring Rock Hudson and Jean Simmons, followed by The Big Circus starring Victor Mature. Gretchen Wyler, the Blackburn Twins, Jerry Collins, and the Roxy Orchestra performed on stage. The manager since 1955 was Robert C. Rothafel, son of "Roxy." By this time the appearance of the cinema had changed considerably from its golden age of the 1920s. Part of the mouth and side walls had been removed to make room for the enormous Cinemiracle screen and much of the rest of the room was covered in heavy curtains. The large orchestra pit was mostly covered by the stage extension and the organ consoles were removed. The elegant entrance hall, however, was largely left intact.[20]​.

The Roxy closed on March 29, 1960. The last film to be shown was The Wind Cannot Read,[21]​ a British film with Dirk Bogarde that opened on March 9.

The Roxy had been acquired by Rockefeller Center in 1956, and was later sold to property developer William Zeckendorf. It had initially been purchased to obtain air rights for the Time-Life Building, built to its east, and was eventually demolished by Zeckendorf for an expansion of the Taft Hotel and an office building that is now connected to the Time-Life Building. Life magazine photographed Gloria Swanson amid the ruins during the demolition.

The Roxy founder's spectacular stage and film programming ideas continued at Radio City Music Hall into the 1970s. Music Hall's lavish Christmas show, created in 1933 by Leon Leonidoff and Russell Markert, who worked at the Roxy as producer and choreographer respectively, continues today as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The Music Hall itself was saved from demolition by a consortium of preservation and business interests in 1979 and remains one of New York's landmarks. Its restored interior includes the luxurious art deco style offices created for "Roxy" Rothafel, preserved in part as a tribute to the visionary showman.

Sources

• - Reprinted [1] Archived October 8, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. at In70mm.com. Retrieved 2014-12-22.

• - Roxy Theater Cinema Treasures.com.

• - Comments and photos of the auditorium in 1927. Pictureshowman.com.

• - Requiem for the Roxy Theater Organ Society, via Internet Archives.

• - Reference list, provided by the New York Public Library.

• - [2].

• - Artistic representation of the interior of the Roxy Theater North American Historical Society. Elmhurst, Illinois.

• - Roxy entry in 1927 Vitaphone Varieties.

• - Manta de la Rotunda, Photo 1, Photo 2.

• - Roxy Lobby. LIFE Magazine from 1943.